Peter Obi Criticizes Nigeria’s Massive Delegation to UN Climate Summit
In a recent statement from Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s flagbearer in the 2023 presidential elections, he expressed criticism regarding Nigeria’s extensive 1411-member delegation participating in the ongoing UN climate summit in Dubai.
Speaking through his official X account on Sunday, Obi remarked, “In a twist of sad irony, let me congratulate the giant of Africa, Nigeria, for matching the great China, with the same number of contingents at COP28 in Dubai.”
Highlighting the disparity in budgets, he continued, “While China’s budget for 2024 is about $4 trillion, Nigeria’s budget is about $33 billion. Most importantly, the vast majority of those in the Nigerian delegation…are either non-relevant civil servants or relations, friends and hangers-on of high government officials.”
Obi questioned the logic behind the substantial delegation attending the summit at public expense, particularly when “most of them hardly understand or have anything to do with climate change,” emphasizing the economic challenges faced by ordinary Nigerians who struggle to afford basic needs.
The former Anambra State governor expressed hope for a future where Nigeria could focus on competing with China in productivity and uplift the highest number of citizens from poverty. “As we have kept emphasizing, we must stop waste as a tradition of our government and nation. We need to tie spending to necessity and national priority,” Obi advised.
He reiterated his belief that “a new Nigeria is possible. We only need to do the reasonable and necessary.“